The Florida Bar Foundation has awarded the Children's Advocacy
Center at the Florida State University College of Law two grants
totaling $100,000 to carry on work on behalf of children in the
areas of special education and health care, and domestic violence
and family law.

"A little bit of legal aid goes a long way, whether for a child or
an adult, but legal aid for a child can have an astounding and
almost immediate impact for good," said Foundation President William
H. Davis. Davis, a Tallahassee attorney, noted that the Foundation
also had awarded more than $1.1 million for other children's legal
services programs throughout the state.

The Florida Bar Foundation's gift includes a $75,000 Children's
Legal Services Grant and a $25,000 Law School Civil Clinic Grant.

The center, which is divided into the Children's Section and the
Domestic Violence/Family Law Advocacy Section, is home to one of the
nation's leading legal internship programs. Its mission is to
instill in law students a sense of professional responsibility
toward poor children and to create a pool of future lawyers trained
and motivated to do pro bono work for children. In 2005, the
Clinical Legal Education Association presented the center with its
Excellence in Public Interest Award.

Students are certified by the Florida Supreme Court to practice law
as interns and, under the supervision of a clinical professor, are
responsible for all facets of cases to which they are assigned.
Their clients are referred by the Refuge House, the Tallahassee Bar
Association Legal Aid Office and Legal Services of North Florida.
They include children with disabilities, children involved in
custody disputes and in foster care, and those who have been denied
proper medical care.

"We are grateful for the Florida Bar Foundation's continued support
of the Florida State University College of Law Clinic," said
Clinical Professor Ruth Stone, who heads the CAC's Domestic Violence
Section. "The new grant allows us to increase our representation of
other underserved populations in our area, including persons
referred to us by the local battered women's shelter, the domestic
violence hotline, Legal Aid, and other agencies referring indigent
people who would not otherwise receive legal representation."

The clinic's work has been featured in the national and
international media, including 60 Minutes II, Fox News, The O'Reilly
Factor, the German newspaper Bild and Madrid's El Pais. It has
received front-page coverage in the New York Times and was a cover
story in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

"Without legal advocacy, children's health and special education
rights will not be enforced, and they will not receive the health
care and special education that they need to flourish or even get by
in life," said Paolo Annino, a clinical professor heading the
Children's Section.